


Counting Seconds

by knitsforthetrail



Category: Original Work
Genre: Car Accidents, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Watch, focus on time passing, seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 08:03:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12076956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knitsforthetrail/pseuds/knitsforthetrail
Summary: There are 86400 seconds in a day, 31536000 in a year, and 2,228,800,000 in an average lifetime.How will you spend yours?





	Counting Seconds

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason the Eagle's line "Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'/ Into the future" was stuck in my head and hence this story was born. Sorry  
> Also when I first edited this story it had the word 'coffee' +16 times...

The faint ticking coming from the watch is an unwelcome distraction from the monotony of the café. He rubs his eyes, sips the mockingly delicious coffee, tries not to think about it. But as always happens when one tries their best to ignore a thought, it indubitably consumes them anyway. It is amazing, the scientist thought to himself, how such a small, insignificant unit such as a second can mean the difference between life and death. Love and hate. Coffee and ‘no thanks, just the pastry is fine’. So much happens in the span of a second, too much to even notice it all. A passerby glances at her reflection in the window while a waitress on the other side trips and spills a cup of tea. At the same time, a child is about to taste his first B.L.T. All of this occurs in the same moment, along with thousands of other unique instances. It’s a shame, really, that some people are too concerned with how others spend their seconds, and some are too focused on their own to really notice what goes on around them.

The door chimes, bringing him out of his stupor, and a business man in a long grey overcoat enters, the man he’s been waiting for. The scientist straightens up, folding his hands on the table around a rapidly-cooling mug of coffee, and awaits the other man’s company. Only a few hundred ticks go by, both a couple minutes and an eternity altogether, before the other man slides gracefully into the booth with a mug of his own. They regard one another for a minute, cool and collected expressions on their face, before the scientist breaks the uneasy silence. It is his doing, after all, that brings them here together.

“It’s good to see you again.” He smiles, not quite reaching his eyes.

The man opposite him apparently doesn’t want to waste any more time on pleasantries, cutting to the chase, “Why did you call me here?” 

“I…” He falters, “I wanted to make things right, while there’s still time.” 

“I have no time for this. I have a meeting across town and I don’t want to be late.” The man slides out of the bench as smoothly as he had entered, the polite mask still plastered on his face, and turns toward the door. Suddenly desperate, seconds slipping through his metaphorically cupped hands like fine sands of time, the scientist flings out and grabs the businessman’s wrist, desperately crying out. 

“I love you!” 

The coffee shop is silent but neither men notice the unwarranted attention. Seconds pass, the whole café frozen while the world outside bustles along, the tick tick ticking of the scientist’s watch seeming to magnify in the emptiness that his words had left. 

The man’s mask breaks, or perhaps shatters is a better word, “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?” and storms out without another word. The door slams, the chime not so innocent anymore, and the spell is broken. 

People turn back to their coffee with a vengeance, determined to ignore the intimate and mysterious scene they had witnessed, though later that night they’d return to their parents, their wives and husbands and siblings and lightly mention the ‘funniest thing that happened today, you won’t believe!’. 

The scientist turns back to the coffee in front of him. Nothing matters anymore, not the old lady giving him a concerned glance, not the employees nervously whispering in the back, not the remains of a delicious blueberry scone abandoned a table over. He wipes at his eyes, though there are no tears, and composes himself, settling down to stare at the watch and count the seconds. 

tick tick tick

The flash of sun on the water and a warm hand in his own

tick tick tick

A voice whispering sweet nothings as he drifts to sleep

tick…tick

A rosy perfume on his lips

…tick. 

The watch comes to a stop. His hands clench, eyes squeeze tight against an oncoming flood, he buries his head in his arms as the clamor outside draws the attention of those around him. Leaving cups and bookbags unattended, they run out to where the mess of metal and burnt rubber and human suffering is drawn together, but the scientist maintains his seat. 

It makes no difference, he knows the outcome, he knows firsthand what is to be gained or lost in a second. A siren can be heard in the distance, a haunting reply to the cries for help. The fires will be put out, twisted metal frames ripped apart in the search of human life, but it will be too late. 

Eventually, wiping real tears from his face this time, the scientist slowly raises his head. The watch glares back up at him, unmoving, mocking him in his failure. He drops a handful of bills next to the now-cold coffee, and stands up while resetting the watch. Perhaps it wasn’t enough, he thinks, and sets it back an extra two hours. 

Sparing the small café a final glance, he walks forward, towards the door where people are about to enter. Next time will be different, he thinks to himself, Next time no coffee shops. He nods to himself once more before the watch rips him back in time, leaving nothing to remember him by but some cold coffee and crumbs, and no one questions the disappearance of the man in the booth. After all, they have their own seconds to count. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first original work I've decided to share, but unfortunately I don't know of any good websites for sharing original works. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
> 
> I low-key got the idea for this off a prompt website, kind of. It gave me a watch and the words 'I love you'. I have since then lost the website, so I'm not sure how to credit them...
> 
> Please let me know if you liked it! Comments are what keep me going!


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